Scheduling and decision system

ABSTRACT

The inventive subject matter herein is directed toward improved scheduling and planning system ( 200 ) in which computer implemented software uses a hierarchical selection list to select at least one of a plurality of unconnected users and contact the selected user(s) as a function of an event ( 110 ). Another aspect of the inventive subject matter includes an improved decision and/or scheduling system ( 100 ) that has soft fields for describing resources. Further aspects utilize a hierarchical soft field configuration.

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application No.60/432,498 filed Dec. 10, 2002, incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The field of the invention is scheduling and decision making systems.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In manufacturing and other applications, scheduling and decision makingsystems use computers to mange the increasing quantity of data.Traditionally, the cost of data storage was relatively expensive, buttoday the cost of storing data is so low that in most instances thequantity of data is not cost prohibitive. What can be cost prohibitive,however, is the time and effort required to filer the data and to getrelevant information to the appropriate user in a timely manner.

In batch systems, filtering of data can be accomplished eitherautomatically or manually. Automatic filtering may take the form of aninstruction hard coded in a program, an input parameter to a program(e.g. a selection criteria), or a routing instruction that instructs thesystem to route particular output to a particular user. Manual filteringof data is generally performed by a person and can be as simple asdiscerning the appropriate user to receive a computer generated reportand giving the report to that user. Systems which utilize manualfiltering may also utilize bins or mail boxes that store hard copyreports for an associated user. A persisting problem, however, withbatch systems, is that massive reports are often created and much of theinformation in the report is either superfluous, out-dated, or intendedfor more than one user.

Online reporting and display of data alleviated some of the problemsassociated with massive hard copy reports and timeliness of data byallowing users to view real time or near real time data using a displayscreen. Additionally, online systems empowered users with the ability tomake decisions that more accurately reflected current conditions. Still,there were problems getting the right information to the right person atthe right time. At times, the right person was not available or accessto the right information was limited. Even still, there were instancesin which too much information was available and this added to the timeneeded to make a timely decision. There remains a need for improvedscheduling and decision making systems and methods which facilitategetting the right information to the right people at the right time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The inventive subject matter herein is directed toward improvedscheduling and planning system in which computer implemented softwareuses a hierarchical selection list to select at least one of a pluralityof unconnected users and contact the selected user(s) as a function ofan event. Unconnected means that the user is not physically situatedsuch that online access to the scheduling system is readily available.For example, an unconnected user may be a user of the scheduling systemwho is physically located outside the local network, a supplier of aproduct used by the scheduling system, or a customer of the entitycontrolling the scheduling system.

With regard to hierarchy, a selection list advantageously correlates aplurality of users with a severity of a problem. It is contemplated thatan event may cause a scheduling or decision making problem. Such anevent may include the failure of a machine, the absence of an employee,the shortage of a raw material, and so on. Correlation of a user with aseverity of a problem may include selecting a user that is mostappropriate to solve a particular problem. For instance if the problemis a shortage of a raw material that will cause a delay in production ofa product for an important customer, it may be appropriate to select apurchasing manager who can leverage his position with vendors to getexpedited delivery of a product.

A selection list may alternatively and/or additionally correlate userswith contacting methods. By adding a further layer of correlation, itmay be easier to contact the appropriate person to solve a particularproblem or address a particular event. Thus, hierarchical selection mayinclude multiple layers (tiers) of correlation in which users arecorrelated with type of problem, severity of problem, and contactingmethod.

Another aspect of the inventive subject matter includes an improveddecision and/or scheduling system that has soft fields for describingresources. A soft field is a field that is created dynamically by auser. Thus, not only do users input values for fields, but they actuallycreate fields. In some embodiments, soft fields will be sortable and/orsearchable enabling users to further define the type and extent of thedata they wish to receive. It should be noted that soft fields may beused for locations, processes, materials, or most any resource.

Hierarchical soft field configuration can be useful in almost anyplanning and/or scheduling system, especially those that assume limitedrequirements such as ERP (enterprise resource planning), MRPII(manufacturing resource planning), and so on.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic of an event driven scheduling system having ahierarchical selection list.

FIG. 2 is a schematic of a hierarchical soft field list.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In FIG. 1, an event driven scheduling system 100 generally comprises ahierarchical selection list 110, computer implemented software 120, anda plurality of unconnected users 130-160.

A scheduling system is a manipulation of data which results in a plannedtask. The manipulation of data typically includes input, utilization,and display of data, and the planned task typically includes adescription and time of performance for the task.

A preferred hierarchical selection list can take the form of a hardcopylist or a virtual list, but either way, a hierarchical aspect of thelist includes levels of data items that have some sort of relationship(e.g. chain or pointer) to one another. The hierarchical selection list110 of FIG. 1, for instance, has a relationship between an event, aseverity of a problem or event, an unconnected user, and a contactmethod. In a preferred class of embodiments, hierarchy includes a stepdown approach that begins with an event which correlates to a severityof a problem which further correlates to an unconnected user and finallyto a plurality of contacting methods for contacting the unconnecteduser.

A hierarchical selection list 110 has fields for event, severity, user,and contact. It should be appreciated that additional, fewer, or otherfields may be part of a hierarchical selection list. For example, it maybe useful for a hierarchical selection list to have a field to indicatewhether an affected customer is a preferred or important customer.Another example of a field that can be added to a hierarchical selectionlist is e-mail address, phone number, pager number, etc. While suchfields may be maintained in a file other than one of those associatedwith the hierarchical selection list, it may be advantageous to havethose fields in a file associated with a hierarchical selection list.

A computer implemented software 120 is a set of computer interpretableinstructions. The computer implemented software 120 uses thehierarchical selection list 110 to select at least one of a plurality ofusers and contact the selected user(s) as a function of an event. It iscontemplated that a computer includes a desk top device, a notebook, aPDA, a cell phone, and so on.

Unconnected users 130-160 are those users of the scheduling system thatare not physically situated such that access to the scheduling data isreadily available. For example, an unconnected user may be a user of thescheduling system who is physically located outside the local network, asupplier of a product used by the scheduling system, or a customer ofthe entity controlling the scheduling system.

Consider the following example with reference to FIG. 1. A foreman onthe shop floor of a manufacturing company is notified that an unexpectedshortage of a raw material has occurred (an event, also sometimesreferred to as a problem). The event is either manually entered into thescheduling system 100 or is automatically sensed or detected by thesystem or a related module, but in any case the system 100 has beennotified of the event. A severity of the problem is either manuallyinput or automatically determined by the system or some related module.It should be pointed out that sensing of an event and it's associatedseverity can be accomplished using a sensing device (e.g. optical orelectromechanical). Sensors can also be used to inspect products todetermine whether quality standards have been met.

Continuing this example, within a very short time (2, 10, 30 seconds) ofnotification of the event, the computer generated software 120 selects auser or set of users and correlates the user or users with the severity.In this case, say the severity is 3 (a high severity). Thus, user C 150is selected as a function of the event and severity.

Contemplated methods of contact can include pager, cell phone, e-mail,instant message, broadcast to a mobile telematics device, and messenger.In this example, the optimal method of contacting user C 150 for thisseverity and this event is by e-mail. Preferably, the system 100generates an e-mail to user C 150 advising her of the problem. It iscontemplated that an e-mail or other message can contain informationsuch as the event, the severity of the problem, the customer involved, awork-order number, the due date of the scheduled task, the time of theproblem, the users contacted, threshold time to respond, and soft fieldsinformation (discussed infra). Additionally, it may be advantageous toutilize a backup contact method (e.g. phone) if the primary (e.g.e-mail) method of contact is not responded to within a maximum thresholdof time. A backup or secondary user can also be contacted. In otherembodiments, more than one user can be contacted simultaneously and/ormore than one method of contacting can be used simultaneously. Thus,user D can be an additional primary user or a secondary user dependingon parameters that are input to the system.

Referring now to FIG. 2, an improved decision and/or scheduling systemgenerally comprises a data model 200 having soft fields for describingresources. These soft fields are also referred to herein asparameter/values with the parameter equating to the type of resource andthe value equating to the data contained in the field. Thus, anexemplary parameter/value pair is “maximum temperature/32° F.”.

A soft field is generally created by a user through use of a dynamicschema utility. It should be noted that a soft field involves more thanmere initialization of a pre-existing field on a database schema, itinvolves the creation of such a field. Soft fields are used to giveusers flexibility in determining the fields they use to describeresources. Moreover, use of soft fields reduces the number of fieldsthat are not used (i.e. contain blanks). In some embodiments, softfields will be sortable and/or searchable enabling users to furtherdefine the type and extent of the data they wish to receive. It shouldbe noted that soft fields may be used for most any resource includinglocation, process, material, man hours, and so on.

Hierarchical soft field configuration can be useful in almost anyplanning and/or scheduling system, especially those that assume limitedrequirements such as ERP (enterprise resource planning) and MRPIIsystems. Hierarchical soft fields can be used to store information thatis included in a message sent to a user as a function of an event.

Display of parameters is typically accomplished using scroll down menus.By reviewing the items displayed in the scroll down menu, one candetermine whether a particular parameter has already been established.It should be noted that multiple entries can exist having the sameparameter, as long as the associated value is different. For example,parameter/value “milling machine capacity/10 units/min” can co-existwith a parameter/value entry of “milling machine capacity/4 units/min”.It is contemplated that a user of the system will determine which of theparameter/value pairs is appropriate for a given entry.

Thus, specific embodiments and applications of scheduling and decisionsystems and methods have been disclosed. It should be apparent, however,to those skilled in the art that many more modifications besides thosealready described are possible without departing from the inventiveconcepts herein. The inventive subject matter, therefore, is not to berestricted except in the spirit of the appended claims. Moreover, ininterpreting both the specification and the claims, all terms should beinterpreted in the broadest possible manner consistent with the context.In particular, the terms “comprises” and “comprising” should beinterpreted as referring to elements, components, or steps in anon-exclusive manner, indicating that the referenced elements,components, or steps may be present, or utilized, or combined with otherelements, components, or steps that are not expressly referenced.

1. An improved manufacturing scheduling system, wherein the improvementcomprises: a sensing device configured to sense a problematic event anda severity associated with the event, and configured to notify asoftware; a computer memory storing a hierarchical selection list; andthe computer memory storing the software having instructions thatexecute on a computer to use the list to select at least one of aplurality of unconnected users, and to contact the selected user(s) as afunction of the problematic event within 30 seconds of receiving anotification of the problematic event.
 2. The system of claim 1, whereinthe software is configured to use the selection list to correlate morethan one user with the severity of the problematic event.
 3. The systemof claim 1, wherein the software is configured to use the selection listto correlate the plurality of users with a plurality of contactingmethods.
 4. The system of claim 3, wherein the software is configured touse the selection list to correlate the plurality of contacting methodswith the severity of the problematic event.
 5. The system of claim 1,wherein the unconnected user is outside the system.
 6. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the unconnected user is a supplier.
 7. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the unconnected user is a support person.
 8. The systemof claim 1, further comprising a manufacturing decision system, thedecision system wherein the computer memory stores a databaserepresenting a data model that includes soft fields describingmanufacturing resources.
 9. The system of claim 8 wherein the softfields are associated in hierarchical manner.
 10. The system of claim 8wherein the soft fields are sortable and searchable.
 11. The system ofclaim 8 wherein the decision system further comprises additional softfields for locations.
 12. The system of claim 8 wherein the decisionsystem further comprises additional soft fields for processes.
 13. Thesystem of claim 8 wherein at least some of the resources are materials.14. The system of claim 8 wherein the decision system further comprisesa computer implementation of a planning algorithm that assumes limitedrequirements.
 15. The system of claim 8 wherein the decision systemfurther comprises a computer implementation of a scheduling algorithmthat assumes limited requirements.
 16. A method of scheduling in amanufacturing company, comprising: creating a hierarchical selectionlist comprising a problematic event, at least one unconnected useridentification associated with the event, and at least one contactmethod for the unconnected user; receiving a notification of anoccurrence of the event; selecting the unconnected user by correlatingthe user with the event and with the contact method using thehierarchical selection list; and notifying the unconnected user usingthe contact method within 30 seconds of receiving the notification ofthe event.
 17. The method of claim 16, further comprising correlatingthe user with a severity of the problematic event using the hierarchicalselection list.
 18. The method of claim 16, wherein the step ofnotifying occurs within 10 seconds of receiving the notification. 19.The method of claim 16, further comprising the step of automaticallysensing the event through a sensing device.